Re: Melb's stuffed ATMs

["Mike" <malex@bigfoot.com>]

> Previously you could just wave the ticket at the inspectors.
> 
> Now you have to: stop; aim ticket at validator; collect ticket from
validator;
> move forward through very narrow opening. Combine this with the tens 
> (hundreds?) of other people in front of you and it makes for a _very_
slow
> system.
> 
> And it is. The queues yesterday at the MetCard-only outlets at Flinders
St
> (about 1pm) were absolutely shocking. Meanwhile, I walked straight
through
> a non-Metcard gateway in a matter of seconds.

OK, previously there was the convenience of "waving your ticket at the
inspectors". But you were not really showing it to them, as there was no
way they could read it. So the system was not really preventing fare
evasion at all. All it was showing was that you had any old ticket. If you
had to actually _show_ your ticket to the inspectors, it would be slower
than an automatic gate. So the only reason that the "convenience" existed
before was because the ideal manual system was unworkable. Obviously it was
not a satisfactory system.

You will no doubt answer that it was satisfactory for the user, and that is
what counts, but I would argue that the recipient of your money (i.e. The
Met) has as much a right to demand a thorough inspection of your authority
to travel. Yes, immigration would be a much quicker system if we could all
just wave our passports at the officers at the airport. But it would not be
fair to the country, and by extension to the citizens of that country to
let such a system work. Similarly, it is not fair to The Met, and by
extension to the people paying for The Met (i.e. taxpayers) to not check
tickets thoroughly.

As well, don't forget that there is bound to be mass confusion for at least
a few months after the introduction of a new system. I can assure you that
buses in Sydney board as quickly as "wave the ticket at the driver" buses
in Melbourne. And that is with every passenger having to validate, every
time.

And railway systems with fully automatic gates at every station (such as
London) flow very smoothly once the passengers have worked out the system.

Give it a chance :-)


Regards,

Mike Alexander
(malex@bigfoot.com)